Course Grants
The course award program is intended to stimulate the development and implementation of courses, or course segments, in analytic theology at divinity schools and departments of theology and religious studies. The program will provide five annual awards to faculty members who would like to develop and teach a course of one of the following two types:
- Revised Required Courses—a required graduate survey course that does not currently contain a segment on analytic theology, and which the applicant would like to revise so that it does.
- New Courses in Analytic Theology—a course dedicated to analytic theology. To qualify, such courses must, if selected, be taught for credit within major degree programs at the institution. Courses must qualify for credit towards a graduate degree in theology or religion and be a full semester, trimester, or quarter in duration. In addition, applicants must provide evidence from the overseeing administrator ensuring that the course can be taught at least twice during the four year span after the course award is made.
Five syllabi will be selected for awards. Evaluators will offer feedback on each winning syllabus, giving advice on readings, course structure, etc. Award winning faculty will be asked to provide a revised syllabus based on feedback before the financial award is made. Awards will consist of $5000 for the individual faculty member and $10,000 for the host institution. Host institutions will be required to set aside at least half of the institutional award for professional development or course enhancement opportunities for the award winning faculty member.
Application Instructions
Applicants for either type of award should submit a detailed syllabus for the course being considered for an award. For those seeking Revised Required Course awards, copies of the original syllabus for the course (i.e., the course as taught without the Analytic Theology component) must be submitted as well. The syllabus (or syllabi, in the case of Revised Required Course) should be submitted electronically, if possible, to analytictheology.project@gmail.com. The deadline has been extended to June 1, 2012. Winners will be notified no later than July 5, 2012.
Sample Topics and Syllabi
There are various ways in which courses might seek to engage analytic theology. For example, one might devote a course or course unit to exploring or interacting with analytic approaches to key doctrinal questions like
- Is it possible for God to take on a human nature? or
- Is the doctrine of the trinity coherent?
Or one might instead take up key methodological and meta-theological questions like
- Does divine transcendence preclude substantive knowledge of God? or
- Is realism in theology viable?
Please note, however, that these are only sample questions and topics; there is no specific list of topics or figures that courses are required to cover in order to be eligible for the award. Prospective applicants may find it helpful to consult the following sample syllabi:
